Sermon of our Father in Christ, Metropolitan Silouan
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Good morning, everyone. I am very happy to be among you on this day. The first Sunday of the Lent. The Fathers of the Church established this programme, established for us a spiritual life through the Church—you cannot do it without the Church: out of the Church you can do some, but in the Church, through the Church, you can do a lot—before Lent the Fathers of the Church prepared us for four weeks, preparing us for Lent. Also, in Lent, in this journey, through Lent to Easter, the Fathers of the Church prepared us for this journey. We have to prepare ourselves but also the Fathers of the Church prepare us.
The first Sunday is the Orthodoxy Sunday: what does it mean? Why are we Orthodox? Some of you brought some icons to the Church on this first Sunday. Being Orthodox means two things: to have correct belief and to have correct life. Correct belief: what is the correct belief? The one which Jesus Christ give to the Apostles, and the Apostles give to the other Apostles, and the Apostles give it to the others, Fathers of the Church, till now. So, the Orthodox Church preserves the Tradition, the belief, the same which was given to the Apostles by Jesus Christ. Now we have this belief in our Church: we haven’t changed anything. Of course we have changed some practices but not believing in God, in Trinity, in Jesus Christ, in the Theotokos, in the Gospels—nothing has changed.
What is the correct life? The correct life for us is to preserve, or to follow, the command of God. If we read the Gospel, we will see at least ten commands of God to follow. This is the correct life. Correct life also, after these commands, is through spiritual life: correct life is preserving or following the commands of God, this is the first, the second is following the spiritual life in the Church. The spiritual life in the Church means to pray a little bit, as much as I can, fast a little bit as much as I can, and do my best to pray and to fast as much as I can, and a little more. Year by year I will reach the point that I fast as the Church wants me to fast and I pray as the Church wants me to pray and I have this clearness in my head to pray: if something happens around me I will not see it as a problem because I have true prayer.
Now I’ve told you Orthodoxy means correct belief and correct life. Now after the service, this Liturgy, we will have communion, of course, for whomever is ready to commune to unite himself with God, and after that we will go through the Church. Of course, one day—I hope and I pray—you will have a building for your Church and you will go outside but until now we will do it inside the Church. The first will hold the candles and after the priest holding the Gospel, and after the bishop holding the Cross, and after the bishop will be all the believers who want, as many as can, holding the icons, and we will have four stops in the Church, and after that we will say a prayer in the middle and we will say all together “I believe in one God, …”
What is the meaning of the icon? The Orthodox icon has two dimensions. Why we raise the icon? First of all to announce an important thing that we believe that God has been incarnated in this world. He came, and He is human, and He took our flesh and blood. He lived among us and He told us the way to Heaven, how we can go to Heaven. And He told us, “Come,” as the Gospel says, “Come and see.” If we didn’t come to the Church we would not see this. So we announce our belief by holding the icons that Jesus Christ came to this earth and taught us how to go to Heaven. We believe in this so we have these icons all around the Church or at home you will have icons.
But please be careful, not all the icons, all the pictures, are Orthodox: why? Look at this icon, it has two dimensions: in Mathematics it has x and y but it doesn’t have z, the third dimension. So, you will see two dimensions. Why? Why do the Orthodox people not have statues. Because we don’t want to have the third dimension. Two dimensions are enough for us. Why? Because we are all in this earth, the first dimension. The second is going up, to hold all of us to go to Heaven. So the icon is not just only a picture, it’s inviting us to go to Heaven. It’s inviting us not to stay on this earth, it’s inviting us, “you are in this earth but I am inviting you to the Heavens.” So to go to Heaven you have to be in correct way of life and in correct way of belief: these are two very important things. Please, follow the Church because following the Church will give us all Salvation. We will go to Heaven. Where? To Heaven. Where? Nearby God to live with Him.
This is our purpose, this is the purpose of our creation in this world. Why did God create us in this world? Why? To eat? To drink? To have money? To build houses? To study? Okay. To have children? Okay. They are good. But these are not the first important thing in life. The first important thing in life is our Salvation. Nothing else is important like this. We are human, God gave us this grace, we are happy to eat, we are happy to have children, we are happy to build houses, we are happy to study, we are happy to do anything, to love all our neighbours, to all our family: this is good, very good. But I will not forget the purpose of my creation. I am in this life, I am in this time, I am in this world, I am in this city, village, whatever, but my mind will be with Christ always, and seeking the heavenly Father.
Do you want this? It’s easy. You have to have correct belief and correct life. Are you willing to do that? It’s up to you. God bless you.
Brethren, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him. For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time at their pleasure, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
— Hebrews 12:1–10
At that time, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael, and he said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”
— John 1:43–51